EP 914 on track... finally, Test session, wet Options

[groot]

More pics. I'll post some more "in progress" pics from my home computer.

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[Jake Raby]

Kevin, email me as many asyou can for your page on my updated site. We are working hard on the site every night this week!

[groot]

I'll put something together tonight and send it to you.

[groot]

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[Thorshammer]

Kevin,

Glad to see you made it, and under the bar (roll that is). Still working on my EP 914-6, have made some major progress, but still delayed. Just got my cylinder heads back from port development with John Andruk of Circle Performance in Brockton MA. Great job, well worth the wait. I also had to modify the front flairs currently available. The EP front track is wider than the FP car, and it really is close. Lastly, I pick up the Hewland gearbox on Friday (tomorrow), geared it for my local track I normally test at (Loudon NH). Maybe if we are lucky and Bontempi, Wicker all go to the Runoffs maybe we could have a 914 tent in the main Paddock. I'd love to thumb my nose at the Toyota, Nissan, Mazda "factory" guys.

Erik Madsen

Wrenching as we speak!

[groot]

Eric,

I'm with you on this.

Let me know how it goes with the Hewland. I'm going to order one early next year, if I can't find a used one to work for me. I'd be interested in some feedback regarding the linkage.

[Thorshammer]

Kevin,

Actually, an FP competitor, Ed Givler from Rockland Mass has installed a Hewland Mark 9 in his 914. Ed is a friend of mine, and his install was fairly straight forward.

The Axles are cheap and easy to get, the CV joints are type 1 VW with the outers being 914. 33 Spline. His setup is different than mine, his linkage goes over the top of the motor, and mine goes under. I have an earlier mark 8 Hewland with VW supervee rear linkage. Ed has the formula ford style that comes off of the side. I was able to make my shift rod run very straight but use more apex joints than Ed had to. But it seems to shift (with Lovely wife turning stub axles) well. If you go on Taylor racing website, there is alot of usefull information. Taylor initially told me I would have to install mark 5 shafts and gears they are bigger. But The cost to do the trans new with a supercase and so forth was over 7K, which I could not afford. So I am going to try it the mark 8 stuff, and change the fluid every race weekend. If it works and I don't have any failures, I will REM process all the gears and install ceramic bearings on the shafts. I have photos of both installations if you care to see them.

When you are looking for a Hewland, you need one that does not have the starter area cut off, This is usual for formula Ford application I think. Also, figure out what you want for gears and ring and pinion. The stock 914 is a 7:31, so I would try to stay with that, but if you run into an 8:31/35 it will work. You can use the transmission as a five speed with 1st as a racing gear, but only if you get a shaft with an integral 1st gear, and then you still must be careful when downshifting into it, The gear is really small and can't be abused much. One huge issue is the release bearing. I am trying a centered bearing on the input shaft, and Ed is using a slave cylinder mounted outboard of the clutch/transmission casing, and the standard release bearing cross shaft.
After you have shifted one of these transmissions, you will never go back. Last thing and I will leave you, 2 things really, Rick Hilland and RIC racing in Bow NH does my transmission work, he is fair, knowledgable and will treat you more like a partner than a customer. I highly recommend him. When putting the car in gear they grind, so start it in 1st, or warm up the motor and then shut it off then into first and restart the engine. Hope to see you on the track in the future.

Erik Madsen

[groot]

Great info.

Pics would be awesome.

I've had the same conversations with Taylor regarding the Mk5 gears and cost. In the end do you think you saved money going this route?

[Thorshammer]

Well, Yes and no,


I can't stand the way the standard gearbox shifts, even after working for Force racing in Missouri where the Ultimate transmission was developed. You may remember the ads "can you upshift hard and fast?" Yeah that was us. Even after modifying the trans it still shifts like shit. i did some initial work with a guy to put dawg ring gears into a 914 box and utilize the standard shift linkage, but the prototype cost was going to be about 10K and a 5 speed box about 5k with gearsets in the 250.00 range. If I had access to this board back then I may have been able to make it go, but the Hewland is the only choice. Will send you or post some photos this week.

Erik

[nein14-6]

There you all are! I knew there were some more people in the country that had EP 914s and 914-6s. Here’s a shot of my EP 914-6.

[nein14-6]

On another note, would you all please show me your SCCA legal oil cooler configurations? I mounted mine, as you can see, in front of the front bulkhead (In SCCA you are not allowed to cut the front bulkhead) with about a 2 inch area behind it and there just isn’t adequate flow through the cooler. I need to work on that and a new front air damn as well as many other things this winter.

[URY914]

Welcome nein14-6,

I saw your car at the '03 Parade in Florida.
Very nice!

Paul

[groot]

Cool. Do you run Summit Point and VIR?

Scroll up a bit and you'll see how I mounted my cooler. I use the left headlight to pull in air and duct it (dryer duct from Home Depot) to the area where the fuel tank used to be.

So far, I'm cooling it way too much, but I won't really know where I stand until I put in Jake's engine.

[MJHanna]

Taylor is one of the best suppliers I’ve worked with. Craig is a great resource if you are having issues. I was having problems with losing my clutch, (Tilton) on the G-50. Craig said bring it and let’s see if we can figure it out. Long story short, they went out of their way to help figure out the problem and get me back on the track. Course they are local to me but really run a nice clean outfit. I don’t run a bunch of stickers on my car but I do run a Taylor sticker. Just a happy customer. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

[groot]

I've heard nothing but good things about Taylor, too..... except about the price. But, adding up the costs, they're actually pretty reasonable. That doesn't eliminate sticker shock.

I plan on having them build my Mk 9. I'm in the midst of picking ratios now, so I can get them started.

[nein14-6]

Paul, Thanks and Yes, I mostly run at Summit Point but have ran on most of the tracks in the North/Mid East.

Kevin, Yes I see where you pull the air in from. Keith P. in NJ told me that he used a similar setup when he ran FP. Les Handly uses that headlight to pipe air to the fan for additional cooling to the cylinders. I use the front fog light grill to pipe air to the fan through home depot stove pipe. I was also looking into those tube style oil coolers, have you seen them?